'Project Lead The Way' coming to North this year

They may not necessarily build Rube Goldberg contraptions with their bare hands, like students at South Middle School did in 2010.

And they may not construct a robot, like other South Middle and Henderson County High School students did in their spare time just last year.

But thanks to Project Lead The Way's Gateway to Technology, a new program that will be implemented at North Middle School this year, students at the Second Street campus will be able to learn more about science, technology, engineering and math.

"We believe our community will also see the benefits of PLTW as the pool of highly-skilled workers for local businesses increases," said Chris Fifer, a science teacher at North Middle School who will lead one of the program's classes.

This is the first time North Middle School will be able to take part in the curriculum, which encourages students to use hands-on approaches to solve real world problems.

That's because the campus now has a teacher — Fifer — who is certified to teach the class.

Meanwhile, South Middle School has been teaching Project Lead The Way since the fall of 2008.

It now offers its students five classes, said Victor Doty, director of the Career and Technical Education Unit at County High, and some students benefit from what's offered outside of school, too.

Take the robotics competition, which was completely optional. Students built a robot to strict specifications after school and on some Saturdays, learning how to write and apply computer code.

That effort led them to place 50th out of 72 teams at the Vex Robotics Midwest Championship Gateway Qualifier Tournament in Indianapolis in February — not a bad finish, considering it was the team's first time building a robot.

The South Middle teacher who helped students build their robot was Donna Waggener. She was trained in a Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy for her school's Gateway to Technology class and heard about the contest through her networks there.

Waggener also happens to be the same teacher who helped South Middle students use ordinary objects — empty cardboard rolls and spools of thread, for instance — to build Rube Goldberg machines in 2010 as part of the Gateway to Technology class.

Teachers like Waggener and Fifer are paid out of the school general fund.

They have access to ongoing, high quality professional development training so they can effectively implement and teach the curriculum.

Additionally, the CTE Unit at the high school also helps find funds and grants for the program, Doty said.

He added that students coming to the CTE Unit from North and South middle schools will begin a Career Pathway such as Automotive Technology, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Welding, Carpentry or Engineering Technology.

PLTW schools also benefit from the organization's engaged network of Fortune 500 companies, state leaders and university affiliations, which give students opportunities for college credit, scholarships and admissions preferences.